


speaking truths

by Jace_Diaz_Of_Hell



Series: Veils [3]
Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: F/M, i think the warning doesnt actually apply but its best to be safe, sequel to hidden meanings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-06
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2019-04-19 08:58:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14233806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jace_Diaz_Of_Hell/pseuds/Jace_Diaz_Of_Hell
Summary: Jace realizes a few things when Luke appears in her room.





	speaking truths

Jace pushed herself up out of the bed, suddenly awake and alert. She drank in Luke's features for an endless moment, looking to see if he had changed or stayed the same.

 

His hair was pulled back in the familiar ponytail, somewhat longer than it had been the previous year. His skin was a little darker, a little more tan- he'd been somewhere warm.

 

But his eyes and his smile were the same.

 

“Jace.” He whispered. His hand came up to cup her cheek, his thumb brushing over her lip, and Jace shuddered slightly at the sensation- it had been so _long_. “Jace, I missed you so much.”

 

Suddenly Jace knew he was going to lean down and kiss her. Part of her wanted him to, but there was an unease in Jace's chest she couldn't quite understand. So instead, she threw her arms around him and buried her face in his shirt, breathing in deeply.

 

“I missed you too, Luke.” She whispered. Even saying his name felt so good after a year of pretending he didn't exist, pretending there wasn't a hole in her heart every time she thought of him.

 

Jace would have been content to stay there for a long while, hiding away from the world, but it was clear that Luke had other plans. He held her for a minute before pulling back to arm's length, inspecting her face to see if any changes had occurred. After a moment he smiled again.

 

“How did you get in here?” Jace asked eagerly, looking around- her bedroom doors were locked, the window was open, but still- the walls were cameras in every room except Jace's.

 

“A pixie. I think she must be a friend of your husband's- though it's obvious she's in love with him. Her name is Jinxx.” Luke added, almost as an afterthought. It was clear that, to him, the details weren't important. Jace was surprised to feel a small stab of jealousy- not directed towards Luke, but to his pointing out that the pixie who helped him was in love with Arrog.

 

Then again, Jace knew it was hard not to be in love with Arrog.

 

It was the thought of Arrog that made Jace ask the next question, to distract herself from the guilt she was feeling.

 

“ _Why_ are you here?” She asked.

 

At this, Luke grinned. It brought back a thousand different times in her memory when she had said something or asked something he had found to be amusing, a no brainer.

 

“I'm here to take you away.” He said, wrapping his arms around her waist and bringing her closer. “I have an apartment on Earth and a steady job. You could come with me, we could get married- just like we planned.”

 

His voice had grown soft and affectionate, and Jace knew he was remembering those days too.

 

She wondered what it would be like to live with him on Earth, and found that she couldn't even picture it anymore.

 

It wasn't that she didn't want to, because part of her longed to say fuck it, let's go and leave Pixtopia.

 

But she had a life here. She had found friendship in Lyriana and Nerissa. She did good work every day during the assemblies.

 

She had fallen in love with her husband, and she knew he probably felt the same way about her.

 

Realizing that Luke was waiting for her response, she smiled sadly, pulling back till she was only holding his hands, her fingertips resting in his palms.

 

“Luke,” She said quietly, “I can't.”

 

With this she pulled her hands out of his, watching as confusion filled his eyes. Part of her heart was breaking for him and for her, but the rest of her stood strong.

 

“Why not?” He asked. “If it's worry that they'll come after us, you _know_ they won't. I told Jinxx we were already engaged. She believes me.”

 

Jace shook her head.

 

“I have a life here, Luke.” She told him. “I have a job that I know I can do good in. I have friends. I have a husband.”

 

“A husband you were _forced_ to marry.” Luke spat out.

 

“A husband I've fallen in love with.” Jace countered, and watched anger creep onto Luke's face. That old feeling came back, fear and caution, knowing she would have to choose her next words carefully. “He loves me, too, Luke. I'm not going to leave him.”

 

Luke stepped forwards, tried to take Jace's hands.

 

“He's not going to love you the way I love you.” Luke whispered.

 

The words were meant to be pleading, but Jace knew that tone- it was soft, and dangerous, and if she didn't back down he was going to hurt her. That tone had been her warning a dozen times in the past.

 

For a long moment Jace wanted to cave, to take his hand and say Okay, Luke, I'll marry you.

 

Then.

 

Then she thought of Arrog.

 

She thought of how he was always no more than a few feet away when she needed him. She thought of his shyness, and the way he came to life when certain topics were brought up.

 

She thought of the endless assemblies she had held with him, watching him care so much about the town they were over that Jace couldn't help but care, too.

 

She thought of the way she would sit cross-legged on his bed and talk to him for hours until she fell asleep. She would always wake up with one of Arrog's blankets draped over her and the heat crystals turned on, Arrog asleep on his side of the bed.

 

She thought of their wedding, too- of their first kiss, so clumsy and awkward and _sweet_.

 

Then she thought of her two years with Luke- of constant giving in, of pain, of fear and carefully choosing the right words.

 

And she had a sudden revelation.

 

“No.” She said quietly, taking a step away. “He won't.”

 

Luke's green eyes began to darken, the pupil bleeding to fill the whole eye black. And, even though she was so scared she wanted to scream, Jace didn't back down.

 

He reached out and seized her arm, his nails digging in to draw blood, his grip hard enough to bruise.

 

“Jace, you're going to come with me.” He growled, his tone leaving no room for argument. And then Jace could feel him reaching into her mind, and she ripped her arm out of his grasp, taking a few steps backwards in rage.

 

He had reached into her mind like that before, twisting her thoughts so badly that even when she lay bruised and hurting on the ground she believed _she_ was the one in the wrong.

 

“Get out of my house, Luke.” Jace ordered.

 

Luke snapped, and it made an almost audible sound.

 

His fist came flying out to hit her in the eye, and her hands flew up to shield her face as she stumbled back. His other fist hit her stomach and she stumbled, knocking down a vase. It held a single flaming rose, and the noise the pot made when it broke seemed to echo throughout the palace.

 

Jace had no time to worry about that, though, because Luke was advancing on her again. She turned to run, to yell for one of the guards, but Luke caught her by the shoulders and shoved her into her mirror. It cracked, one shard cutting open her cheek as she stumbled back.

 

She heard the mirror make a dialing tone, but that didn't matter.

 

What mattered was that Arrog had woken up, and he was knocking on the door.

 

“Jace?” His voice, so quiet it was a wonder she could hear it over the rushing in her head. “I heard a few crashes. Are you okay?”

 

She saw Luke freeze, turning to the door, and her heart froze in her chest.

 

_**Fuck** no._

 

He wasn't going to get to Arrog.

 

With strength that Jace honestly didn't realize she had, she grabbed Luke by the shoulders and yanked him backwards, whipping around to stand in front of the door.

 

Luke had been caught by surprise, but Jace could see him working through it quickly, so she started speaking.

 

“Arrog! Get the-”

 

Luke's hand came down on her mouth, stifling the rest of her sentence. She bit his hand as hard as she could, then rushed towards the balcony doors, thanking god and whoever else was listening that they were open. Then she was out on the balcony, balancing on the rail as she spread her wings-

 

Luke seized one of her wings and twisted, and Jace heard a hollow _snap_. She fell backwards onto the balcony, a shriek of pain falling out of her throat.

 

Luke dragged her to her feet, and another blow to her head had her on the verge of blackness. She teetered back and forth for a moment.

 

Distantly, she could hear people screaming her name. Arrog- and was that her mother?

 

Before Jace could find them, there was another hard shove to her torso.

 

And Jace toppled over the railing.

 

She managed to extend her wings enough to break her fall, though the broken one was screaming at her, and landed among the flaming roses, the thorns of which tugged and tore at her dress.

 

She could see Luke coming down after her so she tried to steady herself, turned to distract him until help would arrive-

 

And flames burst into being in the middle of her garden, a carriage appearing.

 

The door burst open and guards rushed out, surrounding Luke. More people appeared, and it took Jace a moment to realize they were her family.

 

She threw herself into her mother's arms with a ragged sob, suddenly feeling very much the barely-twenty year old she was instead of the Archduchess role she played so often.

 

The voices of her family overlapped each other, and Jace couldn't understand what they were saying at first, but then she managed to make out what her mother was saying.

 

“Jace, sweetheart, I'm so sorry. I'm here, you're safe now.”

 

This phrase repeated over and over again as Marco rubbed her back, the skin between her wings.

 

She heard the door to the gardens open then and peeked out over Marco's shoulder to see Arrog, frantic and looking for her in the small swarm of demons.

 

She managed to lift her hand and wave at him, feeling a sudden rush of relief that he was okay.

 

Arrog made his way through the crowd of demons to Jace, bursting into bellspeak as soon as he got close enough for her to hear. She was relieved she could understand every word he said, and be able to reply.

 

“Princess, what happened in there? Do you need a healer? Why is your family here?”

 

He caught sight of her face- the cut on her cheek, the pain in her face and the way one of her wings dragged oddly on the ground, and he opened his mouth to say more, but Jace cut him off.

 

She pulled away from Marco and pulled Arrog into a hug, her shoulders shaking as she cried. His arms came up around her slowly, for which Jace was grateful. She stayed that way for a long moment before pulling away, looking her husband in the eye.

 

“I love you, _so_ much.” She whispered. “So much. I'm so glad he didn't hurt you.”

 

She watched confusion cross Arrog's face, watched his aura manifest as those pink sparkles.

 

“What happened?” He repeated, dipping his voice down to normal tones so her family could understand him.

 

He reached down and took Jace's hand and Jace squeezed it tightly, glad for the comfort she found there.

 

“I had an ex-boyfriend who was abusive.” She said quietly. “He found a way in somehow, through one of your friends. I think her name was Jinxx?”

 

More emotions flickered across Arrog's face, but then someone cleared their throat.

 

Jace let go of Arrog's hand, pulling away and drifting to her mother's side nervously.

 

There waiting was the Pixie Empress.

 

“ _What_ ,” She said icily, “Is going on here? First I get a notice from my sentries that there's signs of unknown magic in this castle, then a notice there was screaming, and now you've shown up with a contingent of guards unauthorized?”

 

Jace watched the anger cross her mother's face, then watched as Marco drew herself up tall, her arm encircling Jace's waist and keeping her pressed close.

 

“Empress, I respect you and your rules.” She said, her tone colder than Jace had ever heard her mother be. “But when I get a mirror call in the middle of the night and see that my daughter is being attacked, I will show up with however many people I please without asking permission first, your precious etiquette be _damned.”_

 

Jace watched as the Empress' eyes widened, fury filling her features, but then Marco turned back to Jace and planted a kiss on top of her head.

 

“We'll be going now.” She said, “But we're going to have to revisit your security, okay? And I'm going to have to help you brush up on your karate skills.”

 

Jace nodded, smiling at her.

 

The family entered the carriage, followed by the guards- an unconscious Luke being carried and cuffed- and then the carriage disappeared.

 

The Empress turned to Jace and Jace waited for the verbal lashing, waited to make an over-the-top apology and hope she would accept it.

 

Instead the Empress looked her up and down before speaking.

 

“There will be a press conference at my castle tomorrow. I expect your explanation there. I'll send a healer.”

 

Without waiting for a reply, the Empress disappeared back into her carriage.

 

And now that the garden was empty, Jace turned to see Arrog, and reached for his hands, trying to smile reassuringly. The smile broke, and she started to cry again. Tears fell down her face, but when she spoke her voice was steady.

 

Yes, the people would get the bare details tomorrow. But Arrog deserved an explanation.

 

“When I was sixteen,” Jace began, “my sister Estella ran away from home.”


End file.
